I enjoy being involved in my children’s education, but I feel like my help and involvement at the high school level is not wanted.

During the elementary years, there are frequent opportunities for me (and other parents) to volunteer for holiday parties or help with classroom projects. In middle school, I have been able to volunteer for career day and mock job interviews.

My kid’s high school, on the other hand, does not ask for parent interaction. It’s almost like the teachers and staff want parents to stay out of their way. The school and booster clubs happily take my money for sports or fundraisers, but parent involvement in the classroom is not suggested.

Is this evolution of student independence good for our kids, or should parents be more involved?

I decided to ask a few parents to see what they thought. Here are some of their responses:

“Before we moved here I was a high school teacher. As a teacher it was a fine balance between helping students gain independence and involving parents. Personally, as both a parent and a teacher, I don’t feel parent involvement IN the classroom is appropriate. However, I do think parents should and can be involved in other ways for school activities and more behind the scenes things like office help.”

“(There is) nothing natural about parents being cut out of any part of their children’s upbringing. YOU know your child best… YOU are the one responsible for what they are being taught… how their little (or bigger) minds are formed. There is no time that a child needs you more emotional/mentally than the teen years.”

“I think parents should be involved through every level of schooling, however, my understanding is the schools try to promote independence and it’s difficult to do that with the parents standing by. Having said that, if your child is involved in a sport or other extra curricular activity, parental involvement seems to be higher and encouraged.”

“ I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by our high school. Our principal, Benjamin Merrill, is fantastic and really loves to involve parents and the community. Follow him on Facebook and you’ll get a little bit of the feel of the culture he tries to create”

Do you think parents should be more involved at the high school, or is it good to take a step back and let the teachers and students do their thing?

Send me your thoughts at [email protected]